Strong Gandhis, weak Congress

Strange but true. The dynasty is the party and government's worst friend, says N.V.Subramanian.

By N.V. Subramanian (7 December 2011)

7 December 2011: The Gandhis are at once the source of strength of the Congress party and its chief weakness. The opposition BJP has realized this.

In the exercise of power without responsibility, Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul, claim full credit for any of the successes of the UPA-2 government, which have of course reduced to nothing now. But in UPA-2's failure, like with FDI in retail, the Gandhis take no blame. The scapegoats are the prime minister and his cabinet ministers.
It would be alright if this tactics works for the Gandhis. It doesn't anymore, because it has been exposed.
The Gandhis provide unity to the Congress party. The Congress has no uniting ideologies of its own if you exclude power-hungriness and corruption. The Gandhis provide that unity.
In return, the Congress party ensures that the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty remains in power, directly or indirectly. After Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated and Sonia Gandhi rejected prime-ministership listening to her "conscience", Rahul Gandhi has been the heir apparent, waiting to be PM.
Whatever his fitness to be prime minister, he seems most reluctant to take the job. This writer analyzed months ago that the Bofors taint that destroyed his father's prime-ministership perhaps haunts him.
If he were to be PM, he would have to answer for any scams in government. If Rahul Gandhi had been in Manmohan Singh's place, the opposition would have "chewed him up in Parliament" on the 2G and other scandals, a Congress insider said.
Ask yourself this question: Would Rahul Gandhi last one day in the Lok Sabha against the present hostile opposition?
If he were to be PM, he cannot avoid Parliament for long. And Rahul Gandhi versus the opposition would not make a happy sight at all. His mother and he well realize this.
So power without responsibility suits them both. Operating from the shadows keeps them secure. The bouquets, if any, are gladly possessed by them. When it comes to brickbats, others have to face them, starting with the prime minister.
But the Gandhis' mortal fear of receiving political wounds has begun to be exploited by the BJP. If Digvijay Singh, for example, is unstoppable in his criticism of the RSS, VHP and BJP, the BJP has to only question if this has the sanction of the Gandhis, and magically, peace is restored.
The Congress understands that the Gandhis' fear of adverse publicity is providing a handle to the BJP. But the party is helpless.
For instance, the party often tries to make distance from Digvijay Singh's anti-Sangha Parivar ranting. When it doesn't stop the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, the BJP plays the Gandhis' card. Digvijay is stopped on his tracks.
It was evident in the retail FDI controversy as well. While a united opposition and Mamata Bannerjee's Trinamool Congress forced the government to put retail FDI on hold, the Gandhi factor was also evident. At a point when the government was not budging, the BJP asked if the Gandhis backed the controversial policy.
Within a day or two, the government was backtracking.
And if you doubt this, consider the post-FDI controversy state of play. Congress beat reporters are being fed stories that the party leadership (meaning the Gandhis) were not in favour of retail FDI. You are reminded that Sonia Gandhi was mum when Manmohan Singh ruled out retail FDI rollback at a Youth Congress function.
This tactics of the Gandhis of riding two boats simultaneously is boomeranging. On one hand, it paralyzes the government. The government does not know if its policies will be backed by the Gandhis. When push comes to shove, the Gandhis go into hiding.
On the other hand, the perceived disconnect between the Gandhis and the government has made both sides vulnerable to the BJP. The Gandhis' have become their own government's opposition.
The middle- to long-term consequences of this are obvious. The risk- and criticism-averse Gandhis will freeze government decision-making. It's already frozen.
And fear of adverse publicity will so grow that Rahul Gandhi shan't dare to assume public office. If Kapil Sibal has decided to clean up the internet for the Gandhis, imagine the levels of paranoia.
If you are in public life, you must be prepared for the worst. Ask Sharad Pawar. If you want an aseptic environment, then you are misfitted for politics.
No Congress leader (which is an oxymoron) will admit this. But the Gandhis have become a liability for the Congress. The stronger they have grown, the weaker they have made the party.
This rich irony is not lost on the political opposition.
N.V.Subramanian is Editor, www.NewsInsight.net, and writes internationally on strategic affairs. He has authored two novels, University of Love (Writers Workshop, Calcutta) and Courtesan of Storms (Har-Anand, Delhi). Email: envysub@gmail.com.

About Us

There are three ways to tackle the issues that repress India. One is to shut our eyes to corruption, venal politicians, anti-entrepreneur bureaucrats, and a mindset against meritocracy. The second is to become part of the system, merge with an interest group, and feel guiltless about street children, rat-eaters, riot-victims, men and women who cannot spell their name, or vote-robbing...